1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, and, more particularly, to an imaging apparatus including a movable media sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, sensing a media type of a print media works best when the media sensor is in contact with the print media. This has been achieved by placing the media sensor in continuous contact with the input stack of print media. One challenge associated with such a configuration is that the media sensor places an uneven drag on a sheet of the print media and can cause the sheet to skew during printing, thereby causing defects in print quality. Another challenge is that the media sensor housing may scratch the print media, and such a scratch may sometimes show up, for example, as a print defect on certain photo papers.
Printers with a bottom loading input tray have an additional difficulty over top loading input tray printers in regard to media type sensing. Top loading, or L-path, printers typically sense the media type while the paper is in the input tray. With the bottom loading input tray printer, e.g., C-path printer, the print media is placed in the printer upside down, and thus the type of print media cannot be sensed in the input tray since only the backside of the print media is available to be looked at. Previously C-path printers have performed media type sensing with a non-contact sensor, which is less reliable than a contact sensor.
What is needed in the art is an imaging apparatus including a movable media sensor, which may be moved into and out of a media path.